The American star is among a variety of jazz and classical musicans appearing under the banner of Oxford Contemporary Music, writes Paul Medley

Oxford Contemporary Music has for 12 years been bringing a wealth of new musical experiences to audiences. Nevertheless, contemporary' has become one of those words difficult to define as the present seems to drop into the past at an ever increasing rate. What is contemporary to one listener may well seem very mainstream to another while something astonishing to some of us may sound inexplicable to those with a more conservative ear.

Organisations like OCM, which is funded to put on contemporary artistic events, are inevitably not going to please those who are resistant to change or satisfy all those looking for something much closer to the sharp cutting edge.

Jo Ross, musical director of OCM for the past three years, has the unenviable task of walking the tightrope marked contemporary in her programming of events throughout the year.

She admits with great honesty that she does not like to put on concerts that are not well received. Even if the audience is smaller than she might like she is happy if they enjoy what they have paid to hear and is upset if some are discontented.

The consequence is that while OCM's programme fulfils the word contemporary' in the meaning of practising in the present there is no wish to put on events that might arouse undue disquiet. That said, the programme this autumn contains a rich mix of music.

In many ways, OCM overcomes the above objection by putting on practising musicians in unusual combinations.

The big name this autumn is the great jazz drummer Billy Cobham but, on this occasion, teaming up with a group of young Cuban musicians called Asere. This combination of jazz/funk drums working with Cuban rhythms should be a fruitful and exciting evening.

A second big name, Swedish pianist Bobo Stenson, who has worked with many big names including Sonny Rollins, will be performing in the Holywell Music Room with his own trio. Judging from the sparse elegance of his new album out later this month, Stenson will appeal to all those who enjoyed Trio in the spring.

Tapping into the wealth of talent coming from Scandinavia these days, a second concert at the Holywell is a double bill, with Norwegian singer Solveig Slattehjell, winner of a Norwegian Grammy award, performing in a duo, and Finnish quintet Ilmiliekki - meaning full blaze' - who have already won Finland's Young Artist of the Year award. This will be a great opportunity to find out how the youth of Scandinavia are moulding new jazz idioms.

Meanwhile, at the Zodiac, a group of Icelandic musicians under the umbrella name Kitchen Motors use a combination of electronics and handmade instruments, in co-operation with a couple of visual artists, to build "atmospheric musical landscapes".

In the more adventurous areas of jazz, there is a concert at the Jacqueline du Pr Music Building, featuring the leading free improvising pianist Veryan Weston with his trio and the Convergance Quartet from the US, including trumpeter Taylor Ho Bynum, "one of the brilliant masters of his generation". This should be an exceptional event and a fine example of free improvisation at its best, though apparently not actually backed by OCM.

The classical side of the programme is headed by six percussions curiously called Three Strange Angels. An offshoot of Ensemble Bash, this group, using a vast array of equipment from traditional percussion through to radios and turntables, will be performing pieces by Steve Reich, John Cage and Graham Fitkin, including Reich's seminal Sextet. There is also a free pre-concert talk and discussion.

Also on the classical side is a concert by Okeanos, a group featuring a fascinating combination of traditional Japanese instruments such as the koto and sho alongside conventional viola, clarinet and oboe. Playing a combination of Japanese pieces and contemporary classical work from the west, Okeanos have already built a reputation as performers who champion the work of new composers within this east/west fusion. For those looking for something a little less demanding, including younger listeners, cellist Matthew Barley performing solo at the Jacqueline du Pr takes his audience on a journey through the history of music from Gregorian chants through to the electronics of the present day.

While for those who like things weird and exploratory, The Photophonic Experiment will be a multi-media event at the Zodiac on Cowley Road following on from the highly successful Power Plant at the Oxford University Botanic Garden in the spring and features such strangenesses as the specially invented Million Volt Spark-o-phone and work by the Birmingham-based funk/projection/sound group Pram.

Apart from these main events, there are as usual a series of shorter events in the caf at Modern Art Oxford, including a sneak preview of Okeanos and singer Alice Russell with Oxford's Dave Noble.

The Oxford Contemporary Music leaflets and website give full information about venue, time and tickets for all these events.